Blood of the Celts by Jean Manco

Author:Jean Manco
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Published: 2015-10-15T16:00:00+00:00

71 Caesar’s campaigns in Gaul. The southern part of the lands of the Gauls had been taken by the Romans before Caesar’s day. As governor of Cisalpine Gaul and Gallia Narbonensis, Caesar was drawn into the politics of the warring Gaulish tribes and ended by taking the rest of Gaul into the Roman empire.

So Caesar found himself in an odd position. He received a request for aid in 58 BC from both the Aedui and their former enemies. This gave him one reason for war. The underlying threat of the encroaching Germani was a more powerful one. The Gauls themselves feared complete takeover. That would leave the way clear for the Germani to fall upon Roman Gaul and enter Italy. Thus Caesar felt justified in his campaign that same year to expel Ariovistus from Gaul.26

It was bound to occur to some Gauls that the price of Roman aid could be Roman domination. Reaction was not slow in coming. Rumours reached Caesar that winter that the Belgae were conspiring against him. Caesar tells us that ‘They were afraid that if all the rest of Gaul was subdued, our troops would advance against them.’27 It may be that they expected to be ejected from Gaul along with those Germani who had settled there, since they were all intruders from east of the Rhine. The Belgae were certainly willing to ally themselves in this campaign against Rome with those Germani who had managed to cross the Rhine.28

Caesar lost no time in responding. He raised another two legions in Italy and sent them into Gaul in the spring of 57 BC. This brought Caesar’s forces up to eight legions, each nominally of 6,000 men. So rapid was their march that they surprised the Remi, the first Belgic tribe encountered, who promptly sided with Rome. The Remi provided Caesar with information on the Belgic fighting forces. The total number of men in the Belgic and Germanic coalition opposing Caesar was calculated at 298,000, compared to his 48,000.29

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